Cavendish wins 11th stage of Tour de France

LAVAUR, France -- Mark Cavendish of Britain won a rainy 11th stage of the Tour de France in a mass sprint Wednesday, while Thomas Voeckler kept the race leader's yellow jersey.

Cavendish easily beat Andre Greipel of Germany on the line after the 104-mile trek from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur to seize the best sprinter's green jersey. Cavendish won his third stage in this tour, and 18th overall.

He avenged for his loss to former teammate Greipel in Tuesday's stage, when the German sprinter surged ahead at the finish to get his first win on the Tour.

The stage came alive after 8 miles when six breakaway riders — Ruben Perez Moreno, Tristan Valentin, Jimmy Engoulvent, Mickael Delage, Lars Boom and Andriy Grivko — went away under a slight rain.

Although none of the escapees were a threat to the Tour contenders or to Voeckler's overall lead, the peloton kept them on a leash and the group had a maximum lead of 4 minutes, 20 seconds after 27 miles.

Being pushed along by a strong tail wind, the bunch started the chase before the intermediate sprint halfway through the stage, where Cavendish took seventh place ahead of his most dangerous rival in the battle for the best sprinter's jersey, Jose Joaquin Rojas of Spain.

Cavendish had a minor mechanical problem on his bike but was able to bridge the gap with the help of his HTC-Highroad teammate Bernhard Eisel.

HTC-Highroad riders, joined by Omega-Pharma-Lotto and Garmin-Cervelo cyclists, shared the workload at the front of the peloton to set a faster tempo as the escapees saw their lead drop to 1:34 at the top of the small Puylaurens climb, with 20 miles to go.

The breakaway worked efficiently, with all riders taking turns in front, until Boom attacked alone 2.5 miles from the line, moments before his companions were reined in. Boom was caught with about a mile to go.

Cavendish took the sprint jersey from Philippe Gilbert of Belgium.

The 12th stage Thursday takes the riders on the first of a three-day route across the Pyrenees with a punishing 131-mile journey over the legendary col du Tourmalet and finishing on top of Luz-Ardiden.